The Puerto Lápice eucrite

Abstract— Puerto Lápice is a new eucrite fall (Castilla‐La Mancha, Spain, 10 May 2007). In this paper, we report its detailed petrography, magnetic characterization, mineral and bulk chemistry, oxygen and noble gas isotope systematics, and radionuclide data. Study of four thin sections from two different specimens reveal that the meteorite is brecciated in nature, and it contains basaltic and granulitic clasts, as well as recrystallized impact melt and breccia fragments. Shock veins are ubiquitous and show evidence of at least three different shock events. Bulk chemical analyses suggest that Puerto Lápice belongs to the main group of basaltic eucrites, although it has a significantly higher Cr content. Oxygen isotopes also confirm that the meteorite is a normal member of the HED suite. Noble gas abundances show typical patterns, with dominant cosmogenic and radiogenic contributions, and indicate an average exposure age of 19 ± 2 Ma, and a Pu‐fission Xe age well within typical eucrite values. Cosmogenic radionuclides suggest a preatmospheric size of about 20–30 cm in diameter.     

A Full-Sun Magnetic Index from Helioseismology Inferences

Solar magnetic indices are used to model the solar irradiance and ultimately to forecast it. However, the observation of such indices is generally limited to the Earth-facing hemisphere of the Sun. Seismic maps of the far side of the Sun have proven their capability to locate and track medium–large active regions at the non-visible hemisphere. We present here the possibility of using the average signal from these seismic far-side maps, combined with similarly calculated near-side maps, as a proxy to the full-Sun magnetic activity.     

On Dynamics of G-Band Bright Points

Various parameters describing the dynamics of G-band bright points (GBPs) were derived from G-band images, acquired by the Dutch Open Telescope (DOT), of a quiet region close to the disk center. Our study is based on four commonly used diagnostics (effective velocity, change in the effective velocity, change in the direction angle, and centrifugal acceleration) and two new ones (rate of motion and time lag between recurrence of GBPs). The results concerning the commonly used parameters are in agreement with previous studies for a comparable spatial and temporal resolution of the used data. The most probable value of the effective velocity is ～?0.9 km?s^?1, whereas we found a deviation of the effective velocity distribution from the expected Rayleigh function for velocities in the range from 2 to 4 km?s^?1. The change in the effective velocity distribution is consistent with a Gaussian one with FWHM=0.079 km?s^?2. The distribution of the centrifugal acceleration exhibits a highly exponential nature (a symmetric Gaussian centered at the zero value). To broaden our understanding of the dynamics of GBPs, two new parameters were defined: the real displacement between their appearance and disappearance (rate of motion) and the frequency of their recurrence at the same locations (time lag). For ～?45 % of the tracked GBPs, their displacement was found to be small compared to their size (the rate of motion smaller than one). The locations of the tracked GBPs mainly cover the boundaries of supergranules representing the network, and there is no significant difference in the locations of GBPs with small (m<1) and large (m>2) values of the rate of motion. We observed a difference in the overall trend of the obtained distribution for the values of the time lag smaller (slope of the trend line being ?0.14) and greater (?0.03) than ～?7 min. The time lags mostly lie within the interval of ～?2?–?3 min, with those up to ～?4 min being more abundant than longer ones. Results for both new parameters indicate that the locations of different dynamical types of GBPs (stable/farther traveling or with short/long lifetimes) are bound to the locations of more stable and long-living magnetic field concentrations. Thus, the disappearance/reappearance of the tracked GBPs cannot be perceived as the disappearance/reappearance of their corresponding magnetic field concentrations.     

Rebuttal to “Comment on “Evidence of electrical activity on Titan drawn from the Schumann resonances sent by Huygens probe” by J.A. Morente, J.A. Portí, A. Salinas, and E.A. Navarro [2008, Icarus, 195, 802-811]”

Hamelin et al. criticize some conclusions of our paper [Morente, J.A., Portí, J.A., Salinas, A., Navarro, E.A., 2008. Icarus 195, 802-811]. This rebuttal is our response to their criticism. In our view, their comments are contradictory and not based on scientific argument. Our paper presents a comprehensible methodology for extracting weak resonances from the late-time response of systems with high losses and our conclusions are derived from and supported by this methodology, which was first checked using an analytical function and later with the data from a numerical simulation of Titan’s atmosphere. Conversely, the Comment of Hamelin et al. does not contain any mathematical proof, either supporting their statements or invalidating our analysis procedure.     

HIDDRA: a highly independent data distribution and retrieval architecture for space observation missions

Institutions such as NASA, ESA or JAXA find solutions to distribute data from their missions to the scientific community, and their long term archives. This is a complex problem, as it includes a vast amount of data, several geographically distributed archives, heterogeneous architectures with heterogeneous networks, and users spread around the world. We propose a novel architecture that solves this problem aiming to fulfill the requirements of the final user. Our architecture is a modular system that provides a highly efficient parallel multiprotocol download engine, using a publisher/subscriber policy which helps the final user to obtain data of interest transparently. We have evaluated a first prototype, in collaboration with the ESAC centre in Villafranca del Castillo (Spain) that shows a high scalability and performance, opening a wide spectrum of opportunities.     

Integral-field high spatial resolution spectroscopy of the giant Hii region NGC5461

We present preliminary results obtained from integral-field (IFU) data of the giant extragalactic Hii region NGC5461, located in a spiral arm (RA=14^h03^m41.4^s, dec=+54°19′05″) of M101. The spatial and spectral information obtained with IFUs allows us to decompose the Hii region and analyze it at high resolution.     

On the origin of the compact H ii regions around massive stellar clusters

The existence of compact H?ii regions around massive stellar clusters with ages exceeding several Myr challenges our understanding of the physical processes occurring inside such clusters, and their impact on the interstellar medium of the host galaxy. Here, we summarize our recent results dealing with the hydrodynamics of matter ejected by massive stars inside the cluster and show that compact H?ii regions found around some massive clusters may indicate that these are evolving in a bimodal hydrodynamic regime. The latter is characterized by the accumulation of the injected matter in the central, thermally unstable zone, and by the ejection of mass supplied by massive stars in the outer regions of the cluster.     

A parametric study of stability and resonances around L 4 in the elliptic restricted three-body problem

The size of the stable region around the Lagrangian point L ₄ in the elliptic restricted three-body problem is determined by numerical integration as a function of the mass parameter and eccentricity of the primaries. The size distribution of the stable regions in the mass parameter-eccentricity plane shows minima at certain places that are identified with resonances between the librational frequencies of motions around L ₄. These are computed from an approximate analytical equation of Rabe relating the frequency, mass parameter and eccentricity. Solutions of this equation are determined numerically and the global behaviour of the frequencies depending on the mass parameter and eccentricity is shown and discussed. The minimum sizes of the stable regions around L ₄ change along the resonances and the relative strength of the resonances is analysed. Applications to possible Trojan exoplanets are indicated. Escape from L ₄ is also investigated.